A new life
by abnormal alpaca
Summary: Leaving the city and bad memories behind, Akari moves to Waffle Town where she meets new people, including Jin and Luke, whom she both befriends. What will happen in Waffle town as Akari makes friends and enemies, as she tries to get rid of her past?
1. On the way to the island

**Yay! Another story, and a Harvest Moon one at that! This one's especially for my friend. Hope you all enjoy as well, however! c:**

**The Prologue: On the way to the Island**

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The call of seagulls could be heard as Akari stood on the dock, waiting for the boat to come and pick her up. It was a warm spring day and the air was light and crisp and smelled like salt, unlike the thick, smelly city air that she was used to. She inhaled and exhaled, then smiled. Akari would be starting anew today. She would abandon this old life that had caused her so much misery. She suddenly remembered something that had happened not too long ago and bit her lip. _No, Akari! You must start a new life! You can't let bad memories from the past take you over!_ She shook her head to get rid of the remaining thoughts of her past and heard the low "Bhhooonnk, bhooonk!" of the ship that came towards her. Gripping her things tightly in her hand, she boarded the boat and was greeted by the captain.

He introduced himself. Pascal was his name. He asked her several questions, like, "What is your name? When were you born? What is your favorite food? Oh, and what is your reason for coming to the island?" All of the questions were easy to answer, except for the last one. It took her a moment to say something. She was trying to think of a way to say it without giving out _ too _much information.

"Let's just say that I'm trying to start fresh. I'm trying to take my mind off of bad things from the past. And since I love animals and running a ranch always sounded lovely to me, I've decided to come to Waffle Town to run the abandoned one." Akari smiled another one of her sweet smiles, but this time, her expression held sadness. Pascal decided not to ask her anything more and headed back inside part of the boat where he would steer the ship. Akari decided to stay outside and wanted to enjoy the sea breeze a bit more. As the ship let out another "Bhhoonk," it pulled away from the deck and headed off in the direction of where it came from.

The wind blew Akari's short, dark hair as she stood there, surveying the sea. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she realized that she would be leaving the city that she had grown up in and was so used to. The people whom she had lived with [her so-called parents and siblings] may have not treated her the best, but the city was her home. The scent of salt and clear, crisp air was refreshing, but she already missed the smoggy air of the city.

Once she realized that she was crying, she quickly wiped the tears that now streamed down her face with her free hand, and slapped herself mentally for crying about the place that she desperately wanted to leave behind.

Being lost in her thoughts helped the time pass by for Akari, because when she looked up at the sea again, the were nearing another brown dock. Mountains and buildings were now in view as the boat inched closer and closer to the little island. _This is your new home, Akari, _she thought.

Eventually, the boat stopped and she and Pascal stepped onto the brown dock. It creaked and groaned under their weight.

"Welcome to Waffle town, Miss Akari. I hope you enjoy it here, although it's not the same as it used to be. You're the first person I've been able to pick up in quite a while. Usually it's stormy and I'm not able to go out to sea, but today, you are lucky because it was pretty calm and sunny. Maybe you'll be the one to restore our little village... the Harvest Goddess seems to have abandoned us because most people forgot about her. She took away the wind and took the nutrients from most of the soil, she even made it stormy so that no one can enter or leave the Island. Ah, so anyways, you should go explore town and meet Mayor Hamilton so that he can show you to your house. Bye, Akari."

Akari ignored most of the things Pascal said to her. All she heard was "You should go explore town and meet Mayor Hamilton so that he can show you to your house," and "Bye, Akari."

_So this is Waffle town, huh? Hope I meet lots of new people. Anyways, I should go see this Hamilton person..._

And with that, Akari set out to find the mayor. _A new life, A new life!_


	2. The Ranch

**I'm sorry that I'm so slow to update stories....**

**Anyhow, here's chapter one**

**The Ranch

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With a few minutes of searching and help from the other residents of Waffle Town, Akari had somehow found her way into the town hall, where she was told she would find the mayor. But instead, she found two cold, blue eyes staring into her own. "Um.... Do y-you know where I can find Mayor... Hamilton?" She asked softly, placing her arms in front of her, clutching her hands. She began to fidget under his gaze.

"Oh." The cold eyed gaze softened a bit, and Akari found herself sighing of relief. " He should be in town square, just outside of here by now... or maybe he's looking for you. You don't look familiar. Are you that new girl?" Akari nodded, and thanked him. "Thank you, I'll talk to you later!"

She headed out of the building quickly. When she was outside, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _You can do this, Akari. Not everyone is the friendliest... maybe that's just how he looks..._

Akari had calmed down a bit, and opened her eyes to look for the mayor. He was no where to be seen. She was about to walk down the steps to go look for him again, but the chubby man was running up the stairs before she could descend them. He walked up to her and huffed, sweat dripping from his forehead. "Are you Mayor Hamilton?" She asked, and he nodded. The man wore a light blue suit and wore his balding hair up with some sort of gel. It made him look kind of silly, but the hairstyle seemed to match him pretty good...

The short mayor had caught his breath after a couple of moments, and looked up at Akari. "Are you ready to be shown to your new home?" He asked, looked into her caramel colored eyes. A jolt of happiness and excitement shot through her. "U-um, yes! I'd love to." The mayor chuckled at her eagerness, and turned to the stairs.

"Let's go, then... but I'd appreciate it if you could go a little slowly... I'm getting old and I'm kind of chubby... can't keep up with young people these days." Akari nodded and smiled, and together, they walked down the stone steps, talking about things like the animals she could have at the ranch or the types of crops she could grow on each season. Then, all of a sudden, the mayor asked "How was the city?"

Akari stared at him a moment, and gave a wary smile. "It was okay, I guess... I kind of miss the air there.... it's so fresh and clean here, I'm not used to it."

Seeing that she wasn't really comfortable with talking of her old life, the mayor changed the subject.

The walk seemed so short for Akari, because she had such a good time talking with the mayor. As soon as she had rested her voice for a moment, they had ended up at the ranch. It was kind of little. The roof of the house she was to live in was a little beat up. There was a small chicken coop to the side that was to hold her chickens, but it was a little beat-up looking as well.

"Here's your new ranch," The mayor said cheerfully. Akari nodded and looked the place over, not too sure of her new residence. "You can take a look inside, if you want... then, let's go meet the other people living here. They're excited to see you."

Akari nodded again, and headed inside. She glanced around the room. In the right corner, there was an old, dusty television with a calendar too many years behind next to it. On the left corner, there was a small counter that was supposed to hold her kitchen utensils, but she didn't think she had any. In the room, closest to the door, sat a wooden table. Some of the edges on the corners of the table were chipped off. Finally, she looked at the bed. It walked up to it, and sat down. Surprisingly, it was smooth. Like a cloud. She sighed of contentment and fell backwards, pulling the covers over her body, her skin savoring the soft feel of the cotton, and her body enjoying the heat. Wisps of short, chocolate hair lay across the bed as she enjoyed her moment of comfort.

Sadly, the moment ended all to soon. She was awakened by the sound of a knock on the door. With a sigh, she forced herself, smoothing down the covers as best as she could, before heading outside.

"I'm sorry I took so long," Akari said quietly. "We can go meet the people now."

"Not we, just you. I'm sorry, Akari... something came up. I'm needed in the town hall."

"Okay, see you l-later then," Akari mumbled. The mayor nodded and ran off, disappearing down the little bridge that was by her ranch.

_Looks like it's time to go greet everyone, _she thought, and a few minutes later, headed down the bridge as well, feet making "Clunk! Clunk!" noises as she crossed it.


End file.
